A TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 19 



to be on good terms with all their neighbors, for they were not care- 

 ful about getting into the water, but they cautioned us to be careful 

 about getting overboard, as the sharks and alligators were waiting 

 for a change of diet. 



Mahoganj', cedar, rosewood, and fustic are floated down this 

 river and taken alongside ships in rafts, from which the logs are 

 detached and hoisted on board. The mouth of this river is con- 

 sidered a very dangerous place for ships to lie, as it affords no 

 shelter from hurricanes, which sometimes arise very quickly on 

 this coast. 



After loading what timber we could comfortabl}' take, we re- 

 turned to Balize, touching at the various ports on our way. As 

 we were to be detained a day here, I made arrangements to go into 

 the woods and collect some plants. A donkey, a cart and driver, a 

 long handled chisel, and a machete completed our equipment, and 

 we started on the principal street leading out of the cit}^ past the 

 Governor's house. After going about three miles, the road 

 became choked and nearlj^ impassable, and we turned about, and 

 made our collection on our way back to the city. The cart was 

 loaded to its full extent with as many epiphytal plants as the 

 donkey could draw, and when I packed them on the wharf pre- 

 paratory to sending on board I found I had nine quite large cases 

 full. There might be among them many of no value, but I took 

 what there was within my reach, knowing that when we have the 

 plants growing we can easily find out whether they are of any 

 consequence. Some of the Tillandsias, Billbergias, Orchids, 

 Cacti, and Aroids collected are verj' curious, and I was well repaid 

 for my investment of five dollars in the excursion. I was told by 

 some of the merchants that at a distance of about thirty miles 

 inland, up among the mountains, I could obtain very much choicer 

 varieties of orchids, and in quantities sufficient to load a ship ; 

 which statement I have no reason to doubt. 



It would be impossible to enumerate the names of the trees, 

 shrubs, and plants I saw in the forests, as I had no time for criti- 

 cal examination ; but I can heartily' recommend the country as a 

 rich field for botanists or collectors of plants — a region in which 

 they can fairly revel in nature's voluptuousness. 



Its inhabitants are laboring under serious disadvantages. They 

 have no incentive to any labor beyond that which will pro- 

 duce their daily bread, as there are no enterprises into which they 



